Study Claims Florida a Top Home for Affluent Families

Share this post:

In an interesting study from RewardExpert, Florida ranks 4th as a desirable place for affluent families to live.

Published in The Best States for High-Earners and Affluent Families, the study interestingly excluded the top 1 percent of income earners. RewardExpert co-founder Vlad Tyschuk explained, “In order to ensure that this study is relevant and useful to as large a slice of the demographic pie as possible, we have purposely defined ‘high-earners’ and ‘affluent families’ to exclude incomes in and above the top one percent. While the balance of our analysis remains valid and applicable to top earners, we assumed individual or household incomes within the top 2 to 25 percent. This roughly covers individuals earning $125,000-$250,000 per year, and families with household incomes ranging from $200,000 to $500,000.”

Florida ranked highly thanks to its lack of state income tax, increasing home values, low property taxes and generous homestead exemption amounts. Additionally, its public schools ranked highly in the United States. Only Colorado, Nevada, and Michigan outranked Florida.

Where could Sarasota County fall as a desirable place to live based on these measures? Sarasota’s home values have steadily been increasing on an annual basis. Its school district is often ranked in Florida’s top five and its charter schools, like Pine View School for the Gifted, are selected as the best in the nation, by various publications on a regular basis. The 2010 Census shows Sarasota County’s income measures sixth for per capita income.

Other ranking lists have picked up on Sarasota’s desirability. The Street ranked Sarasota on its top 11 places to live in Florida list, citing our area’s numerous coastal activities, award-winning beaches, and access to air transportation. Meanwhile, personal finance website WalletHub ranked Sarasota as the third best beach town to live when comparing housing costs, water quality, weather, and economy. U.S. News & World called Sarasota the best place to retire, again based on its taxes, economy, housing, and desirability.

Affluent families benefit from the numerous activities available to area residents. Enjoy the great outdoors on the several available championship golf courses, or schedule time for fishing, kayaking, bicycling, and more. The thriving social scene is packed with charity galas, performance arts, and weekend festivals.

Taken together, Sarasota is an excellent community for affluent families looking to relocate to Florida.